


01110100 01100101 01100100

by summers-maclay-lehane (ofstormsandwolves)



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)
Genre: Angst, Episode: s02e11 Ted, F/M, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, Injury, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-06
Updated: 2020-04-06
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:35:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23517019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ofstormsandwolves/pseuds/summers-maclay-lehane
Summary: After the mishap with the crossbow, Jenny and Giles stumble across Willow, Xander, and Cordelia. It turns out Jenny shooting Giles was the least worrying thing to happen that night.
Relationships: Jenny Calendar/Rupert Giles
Comments: 6
Kudos: 46





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“J-Jenny?”

Rupert Giles’s voice was still a little shaky and, really, Jenny couldn’t blame him. She’d _shot him_ with a _crossbow_. Of course his voice was a little shaky. She’d managed to snap off most of the bolt, leaving only the tip embedded in Rupert’s skin, and then she’d bundled him into her car- because his car was _useless_ and besides, no way was she risking wrecking Rupert’s car as well as Rupert all in the span of one night- and had driven him to the hospital.

Rupert had, of course, insisted he didn’t need the hospital, and that it would make much more sense to go to his place and use his first-aid kit. But Jenny vetoed the plan immediately. For a start, she wasn’t sure Rupert had thought the plan through, and considering the pain he’d been in, there was a good chance he had been delirious when he’d suggested it. His plan not only relied on him having a fully-stocked first-aid kit complete with antiseptic, gauze, a needle and thread, and god knew what else they might have needed, but also on Jenny being at all competent at stitching him closed again. So instead, she’d taken him to the hospital and rode out the embarrassment as Rupert lied to the nurses about what had happened.

Thankfully, they lived in Sunnydale, and so the story of being out for a walk before being attacked by an assailant wielding a crossbow bolt wasn’t as ludicrous as it should have been. He’d been patched up, prescribed some pain relief, and sent on his way.

“Jenny?” Rupert tried again, startling Jenny from her thoughts. “I quite think you need to pull over.”

He sounded faint, and Jenny’s eyes went wide. Was he going to be sick? Had his wound been infected? Was he having a reaction to the pain relief he’d been given? She pulled over quickly.

“What’s wrong?” she demanded, as she hastily pulled on the handbrake and turned to look at him.

Rupert blinked, eyes bright from pain. “I- I, well, I’m quite certain I saw the children in the alleyway next to the grocery store.”

Jenny stared for a moment, brain frantically trying to unscramble the words. _The children_. Oh. It dawned on her. “What were Buffy and the children doing in the alley? I thought you were patrolling tonight?”

“I was,” Rupert said with a frown. “And Buffy wasn’t there. It was just Willow, Xander, and Cordelia.”

The two adults shared a look. 

“We need to check it out, don’t we?” Jenny said after a moment.

“Completely,” Rupert agreed.

They got out the car, Rupert with a little difficulty, and made their way back down the dark street. Cordelia’s car was parked outside the grocery store, and Jenny realised she’d been so wrapped up in feeling guilty about shooting Rupert that she hadn’t even noticed it as she’d driven past. As they neared the alleyway, however, her thoughts turned quickly to the three children. Half-whispered, frantic voices drifted out from the alley, and the two adults shared another look.

“-want to go _home_ ,” Cordelia complained. “We’ve been at this for nearly half hour. We’ve been to _three_ dumpsters! Isn’t that enough for you people?”

“ _Cordelia_ ,” Willow responded in frustration, “we, we have to make sure Ted’s really gone. We don’t want anyone finding him and, and trying to put him back together.”

“I don’t think there’s a chance of that, Will,” Xander said with some humour in his voice. “I mean, Buffy had already done a good job of breaking him into pieces before we got there, and now _you’ve_ broken him into even tinier pieces... All I’m saying is, it doesn’t even look like a body anymore.”

“Right,” Cordelia agreed, “and while I’ll never get over the nightmare of this night, can we all just agree we’ve done everything we can and we get to go home?”

Jenny and Rupert had gone wide-eyed at what they were hearing. 

“Good lord!” Rupert exclaimed, and the voices in the alleyway suddenly went very quiet as he hurried forward.

Jenny followed quickly, and suddenly the pair of them were face to face with a wide-eyed trio of Cordelia, Willow, and Xander, all standing near a dumpster. Several pieces of what looked like computer circuitry were clutched in Willow’s hands as she blinked at the adults.

“What exactly is going on?” Jenny asked, already feeling she was going to regret asking.

“Buffy called!” Willow said quickly, face pale. “Ted- Ted came back! And, and he attacked her, and Mrs Summers, and then Buffy hit him with a frying pan, and, and-”

Xander quickly took over. “Ted isn’t human! Willow did, like, a tonne of research, and he has marriage licences dating back to the sixties. And we went to his house-”

“Which was _really_ creepy, by the way,” Cordelia chimed in. 

“Which was really creepy,” Xander agreed as he pressed on with the story, “and there were dead women in the closet, so we called the police-”

“And that was when Buffy called us,” Willow broke in. “She didn’t know what to do with the body, because it wasn’t _really_ a body, but it looked like one, and she didn’t want her mom thinking she’d killed Ted again, because _then_ she’d call the police-”

Jenny held a hand up to cut the children off. “Ok,” she said as they quietened. “One thing at a time. I feel like I’m out of the loop, here. Who’s Ted? Wasn’t that the man the police thought Buffy had killed?”

Beside her, Rupert was pale, and Jenny hoped he hadn’t pulled any stitches.

“Ted was Mrs Summers’ boyfriend,” Rupert admitted quietly, and there was a strange look in his eyes that Jenny couldn’t pinpoint. “The impression I’d got from Buffy was that she wasn’t exactly taken by him, but she wouldn’t go into detail. The next I heard, the police were at the school asking about Buffy’s behaviour.”

“Buffy said she didn’t trust Ted,” Xander told the adults mournfully. “We didn’t listen.”

Sensing that she could quickly lose the children and Rupert to their melancholy, Jenny spoke up. “You three were researching this Ted?”

“Yeah,” Xander nodded. “I mean, Buff wouldn’t just attack someone for no reason, so we did a little more digging. And Ted was squeaky clean except for the weird marriage licences. The dates didn’t add up. Four marriages since the sixties was weird anyway for a guy who was only about forty, but the weirder thing was that no divorces had been filed.”

“So we figured he was murdering his wives,” Cordelia explained. “Like, a real, psycho serial killer. And that he was probably going to do the same to Mrs Summers if Buffy hadn’t stopped him. He’d even been drugging her. And Xander. Because Xander had been eating his cookies.”

“So you broke into his house,” Jenny concluded, crossing her arms and surveying the children with her best stare. All three of them shifting uncomfortably. “How did you know it was safe? Anything could have happened to you.”

Willow and Xander didn’t seem to have an answer to that, but Cordelia rolled her eyes. “Oh, please, Ms. Calendar,” she said, sounding annoyed. “He was _dead_.”

“Not dead enough to stop him from attacking Buffy,” Jenny reminded them pointedly.

Out the corner of her eye, she saw Rupert shift.

“What, ah, what exactly happened with Buffy?” he asked with a small frown. “You mentioned something about Ted not being human?”

Willow nodded quickly. “We didn’t even _know_ until we got to Buffy’s,” she told the adults. “I mean, like Xander said, we knew there was something weird going on because of the marriage licences, but Buffy just called Cordy telling us to come over and that it was an emergency... When we got there, he was on the kitchen floor. There was motor oil leaking everywhere, and Buffy was trying to hack him up in case Mrs Summers woke up. I took over then, because we all know Buffy doesn’t know a _thing_ about robotics, and-”

“I’m sorry,” Jenny interrupted, “are you telling me this man was a robot?”

Willow frowned. “Y-Yeah?” the redhead said. “That’s why Buffy called us in. We’ve been scattering all the machinery across town so nobody can reassemble him.”

“It’s taken _ages_ ,” Cordelia added in annoyance.

Jenny blinked, before stumbling forward. “Ok, you need to give me whatever you’ve got left.” She held her hand out for the pieces Willow was still holding.

Reluctantly, Willow handed over the final few pieces of Ted. Jenny frowned at them before slipping them into her pocket.

“We should really, ah, really go check on Buffy,” Rupert said, looking to Jenny as he spoke. “I know you’d probably rather go home, but I should check in on her."

Jenny nodded. “Sure.” She turned back to the kids. “You three are going to go straight home, am I clear? And next time...” She trailed off, sighed. “Next time, just call me or Rupert, ok?”

The three kids shuffled out of the alley, and the two adults watched as they climbed into Cordelia’s car and drove off.

“Shall we go check on Buffy, then?” Jenny asked once Cordelia’s car disappeared round the corner.

Rupert nodded, a small frown of concern creasing his brow. “Yes. Please.”

Jenny led him back to the car, and they headed off for Buffy’s house in silence.

* * *

When they reached 1630 Revello Drive, there was a single, soft light on in the sitting room. Jenny followed Rupert up the path a little warily; she’d never had any need to go by Buffy’s house before. She didn’t even teach her.

But Rupert moved with the air of a man who was familiar with the house, and Jenny followed him up onto the porch. He knocked softly on the door, just loud enough that anyone downstairs would hear, but not loud enough to wake anyone upstairs. There was a long pause, before finally the door was cracked open. 

Jenny felt like she’d been punched in the chest. She’d said before, when she’d found out Buffy was the Slayer, that she’d been surprised that somebody so tiny could be the Chosen One. And now, with Buffy’s wide eyes staring at her from the doorway, Jenny felt vaguely sick. If she’d thought watching this girl put on a brave face to walk to her death had been bad, seeing the tiredness and fear in her eyes now was even worse.

“Giles?” the girl asked, as though she wasn’t entirely sure she could trust what she was seeing.

“Buffy,” Rupert responded, and his voice was so soft it nearly made Jenny cry. “Can we come in?”

Buffy eyed the two adults carefully before stepping back and opening the door wider, allowing them entry.

Rupert stepped inside, and Jenny quickly followed.

“We saw Willow and Xander and Cordelia,” Rupert said quietly as Buffy led them through to the sitting room. “They told us about Ted.”

Buffy’s arms were wrapped around herself in a protective manner, and she gave the two adults a small, tight smile. “So you’re checking up on me, huh? I’m fine.”

“Willow said he attacked you,” Jenny spoke up, looking the girl over. There were shadowy marks on her throat and her cheekbone, and she frowned.

Buffy responded with a shrug. “And now he’s scattered in a dozen dumpsters across town. I guess I won this round, huh?”

Rupert was frowning at Buffy, however, and Jenny was a little relieved when she saw that he had apparently noticed the marks on Buffy’s skin as well.

“He hurt you,” Rupert noted, stepping forward hesitantly.

Buffy tilted her cheek so that Rupert could get a closer look. Apparently, she knew the drill, and frankly it made Jenny a little ill.

“He pinned me against the wall,” she admitted quietly. “By my throat. I don’t remember much after that, he knocked me out. When I came to, he’d knocked Mom out too. I cornered him in the kitchen.” 

A shadow had passed over Rupert’s face, his brow furrowed in anger as he took in Buffy’s injuries. “You should have come to me the moment you were worried about him.”

“And said what?” Buffy asked. “‘Giles, I don’t like my mom’s new boyfriend’? I didn’t even _know_ he was evil until he hit me that night, and the next thing I knew he was at the bottom of the stairs.” She lowered her gaze to the floor, brow furrowing. “I lost my temper, and someone ended up dead.”

Rupert looked uneasy then, and when he moved he winced. Moving forward, Jenny nudged him towards the armchair to sit for a while.

“Buffy, from what you said, he _hit_ you,” Jenny said gently. “You were defending yourself. He intended to hurt you, and he would have continued to do that if you hadn’t stopped him.”

Buffy looked unconvinced though, and looked over to Rupert. “You don’t need to stay. I’m fine. Mom’s fine. I took her upstairs. She doesn’t even remember what happened.”

“That’s hardly the point, Buffy,” Rupert protested, before wincing as he shifted in the chair. “That man- that, that _thing_ \- hurt you. As Jenny said, you have nothing to feel guilty about. I only wish that I’d pushed harder when I became concerned you were hiding something.”

Buffy looked away, and Rupert’s eyes narrowed. “Why do I feel like you’re hiding something now as well?”

Jaw set, the blonde seemed to think for a moment before finally making her mind up. “Promise you won’t be angry?” she asked Rupert quietly.

Jenny frowned at the question, but said nothing.

“I won’t, Buffy,” Rupert assured gently.

Buffy swallowed, and moved to sit on the edge of the sofa instead. “He’d... Ted had already threatened to hit me. Before that night.”

Jenny watched as Rupert clenched his jaw, but he said nothing.

“It was when he and Mom took me and Xander and Willow to play mini golf. Ted caught me cheating, and he threatened to slap my mouth,” Buffy admitted quietly. She shrugged then, as though trying to downplay the seriousness of what she was saying. “I told Mom, but she accused me of lying. Thought I was making it up to get back at Ted. After that, I figured if I was going to get rid of Ted, I had to do it alone.”

Rupert seemed to take a moment to calm himself then, and Jenny shifted forward just a little more. She didn’t want to intervene if she didn’t have to, but it was a delicate situation. 

“You _really_ should have told me,” Rupert said at last, and Jenny could hear that he was doing his best to remain calm. “Buffy, I need you to understand something; you can come to me about anything, whether it’s about slaying or not.”

Buffy blinked at him then, wide-eyed as she processed the words. Apparently, Jenny realised, it hadn’t occurred to the girl that she could go to her Watcher for matters other than slaying. Rupert shifted himself forward in the chair, leaning forward with a wince so he could grasp Buffy’s hand in his.

“Promise me, Buffy, if anything like this ever happens again, you’ll come to me.”

Buffy nodded wordlessly. Jenny stepped in then, looking pointedly at Rupert before turning to Buffy.

“Maybe you should head up to bed. It’s been a long day,” Jenny said with a tight smile.

Apparently Buffy agreed, as she nodded and pushed herself to her feet. Rupert stood too, and moved to give Buffy a hug before she could leave the room. When Buffy pulled away again, she had a slightly shaky smile on her face, and Rupert smiled at her.

“Go on,” he said, nudging her towards the door. “Jenny and I can see ourselves out.”

* * *

By the time Jenny was pulling up outside Rupert’s house, it was nearly three in the morning. She yawned.

“Did you, ah, want to come in?” Rupert asked, glancing over at her before he opened his door.

Jenny blinked at him, a little surprised, and Rupert apparently realised how his question had sounded.

“Not, ah, not _for_ anything, you understand. I just... Well, it’s rather late, and my car is still back at the cemetery so if you didn’t mind giving me a ride to pick it up in the morning, you could-”

Jenny suppressed a smirk at his panic. “Sure, Rupert. I assume you’re offering me use of your sofa for a few hours?”

Rupert stammered again then. “Well, I, I could take the sofa,” he said quickly.

But Jenny cut him off before he could finish that thought. “You’re injured, Rupert. I shot you with a crossbow bolt-” She cut herself off abruptly, wide-eyed as she recalled the incident. “Huh. That feels a lot longer ago than a few hours.” She looked over at him, gave him a small smile. “It’s been a long night.”

“It has indeed,” Rupert agreed with a small smile of his own. “Should we head inside?”

Jenny’s smile widened.

“Lead the way.”


End file.
